I was thinking of trying a few new stores, but I can't decide who to go with. Everybody has a different selection, so there are some teas I want to try from each store, but I also don't want to spend $30 in shipping charges just to get a few bags from each store.

I've ordered from Stash before and been happy with them. There are a few teas I'd like to try from Rishi, but they seem so expensive. For example, 50g of Gyokuro costs $40 at Rishi, but only $10 at Stash, and roughly $10 at Adagio. Do you think the Rishi Gyokuro is really that much better?

I'm not a fan of Stash teas, so I would never buy from them. I bought tea from Adagio and love them. Despite the lack of a phone number, the only time I had a problem with the tea, they fixed it very quickly. (Tea didn't show up -- they sent me another shipment without charge). I have a lot of adagio teas, including a million samples, or so it seems.

There are lots of people here who buy from Rishi and love that tea, but I have not tried it.

I bought a teacup from www.xiuxiantea.com and love the cup. Still trying to work through the tea to determine if their tea is something I would want to drink. They were very prompt.

Before you order from Rishi online, you may want to check your local natural food store, first. Our Whole Foods (and a local chain called Chamberlin's) has lots of Rishi tea for much cheaper than it is on the website. This may be a more reasonable way to try it.

One of my favorite online stores is Two Hills Tea. They carry certified organic teas. My favorite ones that I have tried from them are the Premium Dragonwell, the Melon Seed green tea and their Silver Needle White tea. They offer free shipping on orders $75 and over. For black teas I like their Keemon Maofeng.

I've had a few orders from TeaSpring.com over the past few months and been really happy with everything I've got. The fact that nearly every tea has loads of reviews really helps, you might even spot some reviews by teachatters and contributers to the blog ChaDao. Shipping is at low flat rates and most stuff is available in packs of 25g upwards. Quality is almost always better than expected for the price.

For top notch oolong and pu-erh I would go with HouDeAsianArt.com.

JingTeaShop.com has a great selection, although they are a little pricier for shipping as it comes from Guangzhou. I have tried loads of their teas through both myself and friends and rarely been disappointed, often surprised.

LochanTea.com offer a $25 inc shipping sample pack which delivers about 11 or 12 25gram packs of rather fine Indian Teas, I'm about half way through my samples and am really beginning to appreciate Indian Tea for the first time in my life.

A quick email to Stéphane Erler at TeaMasters.blogspot.com will get you a price list. I'm in love with his Orchid Flower Oriental Beauty.

That about covers my tea buying over the past few months aside from checking in with the tasting sessions at TChing.com